Charles Piroth

Charles Piroth (14 August 1906-15 March 1954) was a French Army artillery colonel during World War II and the First Indochina War.

Biography
Charles Piroth was born in Champlitte, France in 1906, and he served as a French Army artillery officer on the Italian front of World War II before serving three tours of duty in French Indochina. Piroth took command of the French artillery at the base of Dien Bien Phu, and he was bold and optimistic about the French chances of victory, bragging that he had more guns than he needed to defeat the Viet Minh. On 13 March, however, the Viet Minh began a massive bombardment of the base, destroying the French runway. After Piroth's artillery batteries were ineffective in firing back at the concealed Viet Minh artillery, a humiliated Piroth shot himself.